INTHEBLACK December 2023/January 2024 Special Edition - Flipbook - Page 14
TACTICAL
TRANSFER
Whether a career move is on the horizon, or you are
starting out, nurturing your transferable skills will help
you to put your best foot forward.
WORDS HELEN HAWKES
T
he disruption of the past few years has
driven multiple shifts in dynamic within the
employment market. Recruiting the right
candidate can be difficult in an employment
landscape that faces both skills and talent shortages.
While a wealth of employment opportunities exist,
recruiters have struggled to match the available
talent with the vacant roles.
In many global markets, there is a mismatch
between the skills candidates offer and those
that employers need, according to data from
Deloitte Insights. As these mismatches intersect
with longer-standing demographic trends and
newer trends for earlier retirement, they will
continue to shape the experience of candidates
and employers for years to come.
SHIFTING EXPECTATIONS
For hiring managers who feel they cannot get the
“right” person for the right job, it may be necessary
to start thinking laterally.
14 INTHEBLACK Dec 2023/Jan 2024 SPECIAL EDITION
More specifically, identifying transferable skills in
current staff, as well as potential new recruits, can
not only expand the pool of applicants, but it can
also pay dividends for companies in cross-industry
knowledge and expertise.
Bernard Poon FCPA, a partner at EY Hong Kong and
a CPA Australia director, says it has been difficult to get
the right accounting graduates in recent years, and it
is now also challenging to find experienced hires.
“Graduates have more choices,” he says. “The
accounting field is not always perceived to be
as attractive as other professions, and yet a lot
of entrepreneurs, for example, started with an
accounting or commerce degree.”
In the case of graduate hire, Poon says EY is
exercising a more flexible approach. “We prefer
people with the right accounting and finance skill
set, but we are considering graduates from different
backgrounds such as engineering or mathematics,
as long as they have a high level of intelligence
and the ability to work in a team environment.”
